Forgiveness Unlocks the Heart
by Sandra Moats
Sandra Moats
Executive Director
New Hope For Adopted International Kids
Forgiveness Unlocks the Heart
An unforgiving heart is a locked heart.
Forgiveness is the key
that unlocks the heart. Many believers, though
saved, struggle with an
unforgiving heart. In today’s world the incident
of injury is daily in
one area or another of our lives. Turning to the
Scriptures we find
the antidote for unforgiveness, so that we can
walk in health and
victory.
Pastor Tim Remington was shot outside his
church in Coeur d’ Alene
in March. An unknown man walked up to him as he
was talking to those
outside his church. He was shot unmercifully in
eight places of his
body. And miraculously, God spared his life as the
bullets were
detoured and avoided his major organs.
The most impressive part of this nightmare is
the victory that
came from Pastor Tim. He called for forgiveness
for his would be
killer. He called for mercy for the man who did
it. He forgave him
from his heart for the harm done to him. The sign
of true forgiveness
is to be able to bless those who have harmed you
or someone you love.
One day I had this thought about the process
of forgiveness. When
I am working at my computer I can delete files and
they go into the
trash container in another spot. Though out of
sight, the files can
be restored, if I need to bring them back. All I
have to do is open
the trash container and click on that file, and it
will be restored.
Sometimes unforgiveness is like that in our lives.
We delete it out
of sight, but it remains locked as trash in our
hearts.
As long as that file or hurt remains in that
trash container or in
your heart, it is in your memory. The road to
healing is blocked
because it still comes up often enough so that you
cannot fully love
that person who trespassed against you. Lu 17:4.
You might bring it to
the altar of prayer, but if you have not emptied
the trash you will
not be able to fully forgive, and bless that
person.
The quickest way to empty that trash container
is to confess your
sin of unforgiveness. The Bible says, “Therefore
confess your sins to
one another, and pray for one another, that you
may be healed.” James
5:15.
Most of us have areas, that when touched, can
produce a volcano in
our lives. For me it has always been my children.
I am a mama bear
if you touch my kids. Years ago we had a volatile
situation in our
lives. A woman caused severe damage in one of my
children’s lives.
My mama bear kicked in and anger rose like a
volcano within me. I
kept coming before the Lord and laying it on the
altar of prayer. The
lava of anger would recede, but when something
triggered that memory,
anger would flow back into my thoughts.
In determination to forgive I confessed my sin
not only to my
family, but also to other trusted friends in my
church family.
Forgiveness came as my heart was unlocked by
confession.
Forgiveness does not come easy at times, but
in order that we have
a healthy heart we must forgive. It is a proven
fact that a bitter,
unforgiving person usually becomes a sick person
in mind and body.
If you are dealing with unforgiveness empty
the trash within your
heart by confessing your sin of anger or holding a
grudge. If you have
unforgiveness you will feel a check inside that
won’t allow God’s love
to flow through you to that person.
Years ago we were part of the Shepherding
Movement. It was a
discipleship movement that grew worldwide. There
were many abuses of
authority during that movement. Our church had
gone through many
situations as we walked in leadership. Not only
was our family
affected, but also many of the sweet people I
loved who were injured
in their spirit.
We began to see how many things were not right
within the
movement. We came out of that movement and brought
our church out. We
repented of our involvement both privately and
publically.
But within my heart I had to deal with
unforgiveness, as did many
others. Mine was aimed at one leader in the
movement. I lay it on the
altar of prayer many times, yet every time I heard
of a struggling
family because of that movement, anger rose up
again. Unforgiveness
was locked within my heart.
God has His own ways that bring us to the
place where we are
willing to let go. I became ill and was
hospitalized with a ruptured
appendix. While I lay in that hospital bed near
death, God spoke to
my heart. “Will you forgive him? Will you let go
of all those things
that happened that injured you, your family and
others?” It was there,
on that hospital bed, that I pushed unforgiveness
out of my heart for
good. After that I was able to help others who had
been injured by the
movement. It was then I was able to pray with love
in my heart for
those who had wronged so many.
If you are struggling in unforgiveness with a
person bring them to
the altar of prayer. Confess your sin of
unforgiveness before others
so that your heart will be unlocked. And pray for
the one who has
wronged you with love in your heart. You can only
do this if you know
Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. And
remembering that if we don’t
forgive, we cannot be forgiven. Mt 6:14;18:35; Mr
11:25. The joy of a
renewed heart comes when forgiveness has been
released.
|